Carriage drive mechanism



Jan- 2, 1945 o. J. SUNDSTRAND ET Al.

CARRIAGE DRIVE MECHANISM Filed Jan. s1, 1944 6 2 sheets-sheet 1 m K .mi L

Jan- '2., 1945- `o..1.sUl\u:srrnM\lD ET AL 2,366,368v

CARRIAGE DRIVE MECHANISM y Filed Jian. s1, 1944 2 sheets-sheet 2 l j l 5 PatentedJan'. 2;.1945" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARRIAGE'DRIVEMECHAMSM Oscar J. Sandstrand amlvOscark W. Swanson,`

West. Hartford; Conn., .assgnors to .Underwood Elliott.Fisher Company; NewYork; N. Y., a cor.-

l porationof'Delawax'ev Application January 31,. 1944,'v Serial No. 520,558 j`9 claims. (osier-65) This Ainvention relates to accountingmachines and more particularly to azdrivemechanismfor the travellingv carriages `of these.l andy like-f maf chines.

The inventionrhas for one of its .objects to f pro.- vide a single, impositive drive mechanismzfor impartinga smooth, constant driving action-.to thev carriage in either working or return direction land operable to. automaticallyL increase orv decrease the applied power of thedrive in accordance with.

the starting and stopping ofthe carriage sothat ample starting power is assured for overcoming inertiaof `the carriage whenv` it is released from a restposition and substantially reduced'butadequate power is assuredfor holding the carriage in anyof its rest positions.

The-increase in weight caused by the present use of'longer carriages and the various added.

equipment thereon has made it especially desira ble to provide a drive that isequally efficient throughout the entire run of the carriagein 'its' working direction. Spring drums hithertoused.

for this purpose have proved unsatisfactory, es-

pecially'wlienl used with' long carriages, becausev ofi" their diminution inpower as the x carriage" approaches the end` of the run.

Use v of.I a: number of. spring drums does not satisfactorily meet the problem because when,`

their number hasbeen increased to provide sufficient power tovinsure proper operation of the various carriage controlled parts at. the end of the run, the corresponding excessive increase in -power at the beginning of the run results in abusive battering of the parts during this period.

Different types of hydraulic drives, substituted forthe spring drums, have proved unsatisfactory because of their relatively higher cost coupled with their uncertainty in operation'arising from chanceof leakage and .particularly from. variations in theviscosity of fluid correspondent` to temperature changes.

Thepresent invention is directed toward providing adrive mechanism that overcomes 'these objectionable featuresv with a simple, reliably operative, inexpensive structure that is effective to apply a uniform drivingl power throughoutv the entirerun of thecarriage.' y

Another object of the-invention is to.; provide a carriage drive which operates in such a mannerv that the'speed of the carriage is at. all times controlled so that. it never accelerates beyond` the speed of the driving motorwhetherthecarriageis moving from columnto column or making an extended movement by skipping one or more intervening columns.

A further object of theinvention is to provide adevice'of this character with amanually controlled means for permittingy manual movement ofthe carriage. when itis desired to use the ma- 1- chinev without automatic control.r

With these andincidental objects inview, the

invention. consists incertain novel featuresof constructionand combinations of parts, the essential elements. of which are set forth in ap- .pendedy claims, and a preferred vembodiment of coupling takenon theline-4-4 of Fig. 3,

Sundstrand machine.`

Fig. 5 `isa view inl perspective of the disks employed in: the frictional coupling shown in. Fig. 4 and j Fig.v 611s, a detail view of ar manualcontrol. of the carriage return mechanism.`

GENERAL DESCRIPTION The invention. is disclosed on machines of the type. shown in U; S. Patents Nos. 2,023,294, 2,194,270, and 2,216,634, issued to Oscar J. Sundstrand on December 3, 19.35, March 19, 1940, and October 11940, respectively, and is an improvement on the` drive mechanisms thereof.

Only those portions of the. machine that have bearing uponthe present invention will be herein described in detail, as reference may be had to the foregoing vpatents for a full disclosure of the 'I'he invention.V can, of course, be applied to any. machine having a travelling carriage and. is herein shown in connection with a Sundstrand machine for illustrative purposes-only.

' The machine has the customary movable carriage for.` supporting paper forms for printing. The carriage is arranged to be controlled for v.movement in either working or return direction by a shiftableclutch and is stopped inthe various columnsduringthe working stroke by the conventional tabulating stops engaging the forward ends of machine `operation controlling magazines that arefmounted on the carriage control plate.

The invention uses the saine motor that is used the disks when the carriage is arrested by thestops. In this manner there is provided two constants of frictionally applied power, one constant being applied when the carriage is at rest against the stop and being sufiicient to hold the carriage securely for printing purposes and the other constent being sufficient to insure ample force to sfeee eee 21 and 2l. When the carriage is moved to the ieit by the drive mechanism later to be described. it brings a magasine I4 against tabulating stop l1. The stop 21 is permitted to slide to the left through the provision oi s slot Il. through which stud 2l extends. This tensions spring 35 'until the left end of lever llstrikes an abutment 40. l

start and move the carriage from arrested position to its next position during working strokes and back to its initial starting position during return strokes. This latter constant of friction is also suiiicient to prevent the carriage from over running the speed of the motor. l

i DsrArLnnzDEscxIP'rroN Carriage mounting and tabulating mechanism -lating movement the carriage travels toward 'the observer in Fig. 1, Vtoward the left in Fig. 21.-' The usual control plate I3 is mounted on the rear of the carriage and carries a plurality of control magazines I4 for automatically controlling the operations of the machine in predetermined columnar positions. The tabulating mechanism is mounted on a plate I5 mounted in the rear end of the machine beneath the forward end of control plate I8. Plate I5 is supported for sliding movement in a direction parallel to the travel of the carriage.- This sliding movement is made possible through the provision of slots I Siregistering with screws I1 secured in the rear Wall I8 of the machine frame. A spring I! Iconnected y to the upper arm of a lever 2li pivoted at 2i tends to move plate I5 toward the right as shown in Fig. 3. 'I'he upper arm of the lever carries a stud 22, lying within a recess '23 on plate I5. The lower arm of lever lis pivotally connected to a dash pot 24 mounted on the back of wall I8.4

When the carriage is released for tabulation, spring I9 moves the plate to its right-hand posivWhen the carriage is in its position of rest. one of its magazines I4 rests against tabulating stop 21. When the carriage is to be released for movement from one column to the next, stop 21 is lowered and stop 28 is simultaneously raised. These stops are so positioned that stop 28 is elevated suiilclently to lie in the path of move. ment of magazines I4 before stop 21 is lowered out of the path of the magazines, so that before the carriage is released for tabulation it moves from its position of contact with stop 21 to a position of contact with stop 28, these stops being slightly oil'set in the working direction of travel of the carriage. After the stops are so moved, and the magazine I4 has moved into engagement with stop 28, plate 29 is lowered to its original position. Ihis movement releases the carriage to the action of the drive which effects the desired tabulation. Immediately upon the release of the carriage, plate I5 moves to the rright under the tension of spring I9. During the tabulation. stop 21 is raised by spring 38 as soon as the magazine passesto the left thereof. This places stop 21 in position lto engage the next magazine.

Tabulation of the carriage from one column to another by operation of stops 21 and 28 may be performed automatically by the general operator (not shown) of the machine, or manually by operator of the manual tabulating key (not shown). The slide indicated at 4I corresponds' to the slide 885 of Patent No. 2,194,270 and, as

shown and described therein, is connected to the vgeneral operator of the machine to perform automatic operation of stops 21 and 28. There is' indicated at 42 the rear end of a lever that corresponds to the lever 883 ofthe patent which lever is controlled by the manual tabulation key as fully disclosed therein.

tion wherein the left ends of slots I8 vare'engaged with screws I1 as shown in Fig. 3.

A lever 25 is mounted for vertical -movement on a stud 28 secured in plate I5. The right end of lever 25 constitutes a tabulating stop 21 coacting with a companion stop 28 formed upon a slide 29 mounted for vertical movement on plate I5 by means of a screw'38 extending through a slot 3I in slide 23, and by a lever 32 pivoted to` slide 29 at 33 and fulcrumed on a stud 34 secured to plate I5. A spring 35 normally holds stop 28 in its lower ineffective position shown in Figs.

2 and 3. A spring 38 tends to hold stop 21 on lever 25 in its upper and right-hand position1 where a lug 31 on lever 25 rests against a stud 38 on lever 32. As before stated, the carriage is provided with a plurality of magazines I4 (one for each position in which it is desired to have the carriage stop), to coact with the tabulating stops Carriage drive mechanism The carriage is driven by the same motor thatv is used for cycling the machine. The motor is indicated at 43. It has a worm 444 (Fig. 2) meshing with a worm encased in a gear'housins 45 mounted on'the machine frame. Agear 41 connected with worm gear' 45meshes 'with 'an- 5I secured to the .machine frame and l in a bear-y l ing provided lin housing 48.V To -theopposite end of shaft 50 thereis secured a V-pulley 52 connecteclby'a. belt with a. second` V-pulley 54 formed integral with a cup-shaped housing 55 of `a friction disk coupling indicated generally at 55. A spring-urged belt tensioner 53 mounted `on plate 5I holds the belt taut about the pulleys. The pulley and housing 54--55 are mounted on a anged hub 54a (Fig. 4) secured to the left end of ahorizontallyextending shaft 51 (Fig. 2) journaled in bushings 58 formed on a U-bracket 59 secured to a horizontally extending plate 80 that is secured at 6I to an internal wall of the machine and secured at 82 to an extension 63 formed on gear housing 48. Pulley 54 and housaccesos ing 55 are frictionally connected with shaft 51 in a manner to be later described. t

A bevel gear 04 securedvon the right end of shaft 51 meshes with oppositely disposed corresponding bevel gears l and y89 rotatably mounted upon a vertically extending shaft 81. Shaft 01 is .lournaled at its lower end in a bushing B0 secured on the underside of plate 60 and at its upper end in a bushing 59 secured on a bracket fixed to the machine frame. The shaft is movable for a slight distance vertically lin bushings 68--59 andhas'a collar 12 fixed thereon between gears 65 and 65 by a pin 1I. Collar 12 has oppositely disposed'dogs 13 and 1\4 on its upper and lower faces respectively. When shaft 61 is in its lower position, as shown in Fig. 2,

f a tooth 16 formed on the bottom face of gear 86 to reverse the rotation of shaft 61 to carriage return direction thus constituting a reversible positive clutch. A lcollar1`| is securedto shaft 61 above gear 30 by la pin 10`and has upward extensions such as 19y interslidably connected in corresponding. recesses 80 provided in a depend ing hub of a driving pinion 8| supported directly plate 90. Plate 98 is secured in spaced relation to plate 5I by spacingsleeves and tie bolts 91. The rear end of lever 931s pivoted at 98 (Fig. 3) to one end of a horizontally extending link 09. The opposite end of link 98 is guided for sliding movement by a pin-and-slot connection |00 with lever 20. A shoulder |0| on the right end of link 99 abuts a stud |02 secured in lever 20 below its pivotal center 2|. The parts are so proportioned that when a magazine I4 engages tabulating stops 21-28 and moves plate I5 toward the left as shown in Fig. 1, the distortion of disks 84 Acauses the disks to move apart slightly one from the other with button r9| pressing against the forward end |03 of lever 93.

In this condition suillcient portions of the enagaging surfaces of the disks remain frictionally against the stop 21 to thus secure a firm holding action upon the carriage for printing purposes.

above collar 11 by a. bracket 82 (Fig. 1) secured to bracket-1li. \-Suiiicient vertical clearance is provided in recess 80 to permit the shiftin-g move, ment of shaft 61 as just described for. the re- -versible connection and disconnection of the the connections above "describedthe carriage is driven in a corresponding direction.

The friction coupling'55 (Fig. 4*) comprises a series of metal disks 84 .of'slightly smaller diameter than the interior of1cup` 55 'in which they are mounted. Each of the disks have rectangular openings 86 (Fig. 5) of such size'and shape Upon release of the carriage for movement to thev next columnar position, immediate the lowering of stop 21 as previously described, plate I5 v vthrough the shafts and gearing to start and conthat they t snuglyjover the slabbed portions A 81(Fig. 4) formedontheleft end of shaft 51. Alternately interposed between disks 84 are a series of disks88 preferably of fibrous brakelina ing material orthelik. Disk`s88 have openings 89a that fit-loosely over-'shaft 51 and ray dially extending spaced `tongues 89 yengaging within correspondingslots .90 provided in the pe#` riphery of cup 55. A rounded button 9| slidably mounted for axial movement on a reduced end v92 of shaft 51 caps the assembly and has its in' f ner facebearing against the outer face of the` outermost disk 84, the cup being held in position by a lever 93laterto be described.

Disks 84 pare preferably formed slightly off the lflat, i; e., they are'formed so that their surfaces are slightly irregularly distorted with respect to the surfaces of disks 88, so thatwhen they are heldl together as later described, Athere is profaces of disks 84-88. K

f Coupling control mechanism I'he mechanism for controlling the degree of This mechanism includes a lever 93 pivoted at 94 on. a flange 95 .formed on '.an' auxiliary side stantly move the carriage from its inert position of rest to the next columnar position. Upon the next magazine I4 engaging stop 21, stud |02 is again swung slightly counterclockwise away from shoulder |02l releasing the pressure lever 93 so that the coupling 56 again imparts a reduced but adequate driving power to hold the carriage in this rest position", and so on.

Since the full pressure oflever 93 is u n cou- ,45 pling 56 whenever the carriage is moving, suillcient -frictional engagementps maintained between disks 84-88 to insure against the carriage accelerating through ,momentum beyond the `speed of the driving motor 43.

Carridqe'retum l that-disclosed in the before-mentioned Patent No. 2,194,210 and hence will be herein only briefly described. It includes theA usual carriage'return block |04, located on the under side of the carriage to the right of the last columnar magazine I4. As the carriage completes its Working stroke following its last stop, block |04 engages one arm |05 of a three-armed bell crank |06 pivoted at I 01 in the machine frame. A flanged arm |08 of the bell crank lines lvwithinan annular groove in collar 11. As block |04 strikes arm |05, bell crank |05" rotates counterclockwise to shift collar11 I vided aslight yielding pressure between the sur-` Y and 12 upwardly, so .that dog 14 of collar 12 engages with tooth 16 of gear 66 as dog 13 is withdrawn from engagement with tooth 15. Since gear 66 rotates in an opposite direction to gear 65, return movement of the carriage is effected through the reverse driving action of gear 8|. Toward the end of the return stroke a block |24 engages arm |05 of bell crank |06 from a direction opposite to that in which it was engaged by blockl |04 and rotates the bell crankv clockwise to restore the clutch into tabulating engagement with gear 65. The usual spring-urged detent |09 with that disclosed in the before-mentioned Patent No. 2,194,270, is provided in this machine and comprisesV a lever III (Fig. 6) pivoted at Il! in the machine frame. The rear end of the lever has an upturned portion H3 resting directly beneath-a peripheral flange ||4 provided on collar 12. Depression of the key causes collar 12 and shaft 61 to be raised in exactly the same manner as previously ydescribed in connection with carriage control of the return movement.

It will be noted that, since plate I5 occupies its rightward position as shown in Fig. 3 during the entire return movement, full pressure is applied by lever 93 upon button 9| of the friction coupling 55 so 'that the higher constant of frictionally applied power is eective during the entire return movement. s

Manual control Machines of this type are equipped with a key known as the normalizer or manual control key which, when depressed, eliminates machine operation of the carriage tabulating stops and control. of various machine functions by the carriage. When the machine is used with this key depressed, such as for printing items and totals one below theother in `a single column, it may be desirable to manually shift the carriage laterally from one column to another. To facilitate this engages a third arm III! of bell crank |06 to holdY allcoming within the scope of the claims which follow. Y

We claim:

1. In a machine oi' the class described having a, travelling carriage and releasable means i'or holding the carriage from movement in one direction, the combinationvof a.` motor, drivevmechanism including an impositive coupling connected between saidmotor and said carriage for driving said carriage 'in said one'direction, and means controlled bythe releasable holding means for decreasing the positiveness of the coupling when the carriage is held by said means and increasing. the positiveness of the coupling when the carriage is released by said means.

2. In a machine of the class described having a travelling carriage and releasable means for holding the carriage from movement in one direction, the combination of a. motor, an impositive couplingand a positivereversible clutch interactively connected between said motor and said carriage andoperable to drive the carriage in said one direction or in an opposite direction, and means controlled by the carriage holding'means for decreasingthe-positivenessof the coupling whenI the carriageis engaged by the holding movement it is necessary to release the tension of spring I9 upon lever 93 and button 9| so that therel is the relatively lighter fricticnal pressure applied to the disks 84-88 during such operations. The manual control or normalizing key is herein indicated in Fig. 3 at I|5 and corresponds to key 810 in Patent No. 2,194,270.

The key is mounted for vertical sliding movement and is provided with a bayonet slot IIB engageable with a mounting stud I1 for holding the key locked in depressed position. A lever ||8 pivoted at I I9 is connected at its forward end by a pin-and-slot connection |20 with key II5. The rear end of this lever lies beneath one arm of a bell crank |2| pivoted at |22 in the machine frame. The opposite arm of the bell crank has a ange |23 which, when key I|5 is in its raised or ineffective position and plate I5 is in its rightward position as shown in Fig. 3, abuts the right end of the plate. Upon depression of key ||5, bell crank |2| is rocked counterclockwise to thrust plate I5 toward the left against the tension of spring I9 and to hold the plate in such position as long as key I5 remains latched. This removes the full pressure of lever 93 against button 9| and thereby lightens the frictional contact between disks 88-84 as previously described. Hence, when the machine is being manually operated, the carriage may be moved' manually from column to column, suflicient force being applied thereto to overcome the opposition of the frictional coupling 56. As before stated, the power applied by the frictional coupling when the parts are in this position is sufficient to rmly hold the carriage against tabulating stop 21` for printing purposes.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form of embodiment herein disclosed for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms meansA and increasing the positiveness of the coupling when the carriage is released from the holding means.

3. In a machine of the class described having a travelling carriage and releasable means for holding the carriage from movement in one direction, the combination of a motor, a drive mechanism comprising a unitary systemv of impositive andy positive interconnected driving connections connected between the motor and the carriage and capable of driving the carriage in said one direction or in aniopposite direction, and means cooperatingbetween the carriage holding means and the impositive connection for increasing the intensity of said connection when the holding .means releases the carriage for movement and decreasing the intensity of said connection when the carriage is''stcpped by the holding means.

4. In a machine of the class described having a travelling carriage, a. motor, a drivey between ,the motor and the carriage including a friction coupling and a positive clutch, the clutch being operable to reverse th'e direction of drive for moving the carriage in either working or return direction and thecoupling being operable to modify the intensity of the drive, releasable means for .arresting movement of the carriage in working direction, and means under the control of the releasable means and cooperating with the coupling to modify the degree of frictionally applied power conformably to the stopping and releasing of the carriage.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a. movable paper carriage, a motor, a constantly ldriven connection between the motor and the carriage, said connection including a, clutch shiftable to reverse the movement of the carriage from working to return direction and vice versa, a releasable member engageable by the carriage during its movement in working .direction, and a connection between the releasable member and the impositively driven connection for decreasing the intensity of said connection when the carriage engages the member and increasing the intensity of said connection when the carriage is released by said member.

6. A drive for travelling paper carriages comprising a motor, a clutchshiftable to drive the carriagein working or return directions, releasable means for stopping the carriage in the working direction movement, a constantly acting mpositive drive connection between the motor and the clutch and means under the control of the releasable stop means cooperating with the impositive connection for decreasing the intensity of the drive when the carriage is stopped by said releasable stop means,

7.,In avmachine of the class described, having a travelling carriage, a friction disk coupling, a reversible positive clutch, said coupling and said clutch being interoperatively connected between the motor and the carriage to drive the carriage in either a working or return direction, means for releasably stopping the carriage in its movement in working direction, and means including connectio-ns between the releasable stop means and the coupling for imparting variable pressure upon the disks of the coupling so that reduced but suflicient power is applied throughthe coupling to hold carriageagain'st the stop mea when the carriage is arrested and substantially Cncreased power sufficient to overcome the inertikalof the carriage is appliedthrough the coupling w en the carriage is released bythe stop means.

8. In a machine of the class described hav ng a travelling carriage and releasable stop means for holding the carriage from movement in' one direction, a motor, drive mechanism including an impositive coupling connected between the motor and the carriage, and means connected between the releasable stop means and the coupling operable to increase and decrease the application of power through the coupling to the carriage in correspondence with the releasing and stopping of the carriage by the releasable stop means.

9. In a machine of the class described having a travelling carriage, and releasable stop means for holding the carriage from movement in one directon, a manipulative member, a motor, drive mechanism including an impositive coupling connected between the motor and the carriage, means connected between the releasable stop means and the coupling operable to increase and decrease the application of power through the coupling to the carriage in correspondence with the releasing and stopping of the carriage by the releasable stop means, and means under the control of the manipulative member for preventing operation of the connecting means to increase the application of power through the coupling even though the carriage is released.

OSCAR J. SUNDSTRAND. OSCAR W. SWANSON. 

